Dreams Underfoot
Dreams Underfoot (1993) — The first book in the Newford Series and first Newford collection (itself collected en toto in Newford Tales omnibus. :: "There is no question that there is an unseen world. The problem is how far is it from midtown, and how late is it open?" — attributed to Woody Allen. Category (YA, Adult) Adult Description Dreams Underfoot is a collection of 19 stories set in the of Newford, two are original. These are early stories that introduce Jilly Coppercorn and her friends in Newford. ~ Charles de Lint: Dreams Underfoot (1993) Dreams Underfoot (1993): (Collection of Stories) Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fae and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song. ~ Dreams Underfoot From Terry Windling's Intro "The book you hold is neither a novel nor a simple gathering of short stories. Rather, it is a cycle of urban myths and dreams, of passions and sorrows, romance and farce woven together to create a tapestry of interconnected dramas, interconnected lives - the kind of magic to be found at the heart of any city, among any tightly knit community of friends." ~ The Cauldron: Themes theme is Urban Faeries, wherein the creatures and beings of magic and folklore become real and tangible to those that believe in them. ~ Publisher's Weekly World-Building Newford, with its harbor, lost subterranean Old City, Chinatown, skid row, and so forth, is de Lint's all-purpose American city; his theme is Urban Faeries, wherein the creatures and beings of magic and folklore become real and tangible to those that believe in them. Though Newford's population leans heavily toward twentysomething New Agers, characters like author Christy Riddell (his stories are often related or read by the other characters), of Butler U., and the ubiquitous, good-hearted Jilly Coppercorn, weave in and out of the stories. The ideas, too, display an entertaining diversity: magic birds, stone drums, ghosts in various guises, animated bicycles, Bigfoot, gypsy magic, psychic vampires, spirits of place, Frankenstein's monster, a conjuror and a Tree of Tales, a catalyst for bad luck, dreams, orphans and angels, night people, bridges and possibilities, music and mermaids, and spirits of the city. Tidy tales, with tingling openings, mundane middles, and limp or elusive endings: initially appealing but far from memorable. ~ Charles de Lint: Dreams Underfoot (1993) Description Settings Newford Places: * Old City * Tombs — * Flora * Fitzhenry Park — "Stone Drum", "Winter Was Hard", "Ghosts of Wind and Shadow", * Foxville * Kickaha River * Beaches — ritzy area * Battersfield Road * Metro Zoo — (Elderee) "Romano Drom" * Lower Crowsea * Green Man Gallery * Old Firehall on Lee Street (now a community center) * Upper Foxville — "That Explains Poland" * Yo Man - Club on Gracie street near Landis Ave. ("Freewheeling") * Gypsy Records — "Timeskip" * Monkey Woman’s Nest: Mexican Restaurant on Williamson near Gypsy Records; Owner: Ernestina Verdad — "Timeskip" * Stanton Street — "Timeskip" * Your Second Home: sleazy bar in Foxville — "Timeskip" * Kathryn's Cafe — "Stone Drum" * Kelledy House — "Stone Drum" * Butler University Supernatural / Mythical Elements magic birds, Gemmins, sprites, Bodachs, hobs, stone drums, ghosts in various guises, animated bicycles, Bigfoot, gypsy magic, psychic vampires, spirits of place, Frankenstein's monster, conjuror, Tree of Tales, a catalyst for bad luck, dreams, orphans, angels . . . * Skookin: Goblin-like creatures in Old City; Goon is one; * Sprites: little winged spirits known as flower faeries—spirits of trees, bushes, flowers weeds that grew in parks and gardens. * Bodachs: wizened, little, monkey-like Faeries. * Gemmins: live in abandoned cars; * Skells: winos, bag ladies and the other homeless and indigents that live in the Tombs; traverse the tunnels below; Publications: * The Daily Journal — Newspaper — "That Explains Poland" * The Newford Star — Newspaper — "Romano Drom" * In the City — night scene guide — "Romano Drom" Jilly Stories ** Main Character: "Winter Was Hard", "In the House of My Enemy" ** Secondary Role: "Timeskip"; "Freewheeling"; "The Conjure Man"; "The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep Characters To expand the table, right-press on a row of the table or (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Cover Artists * Terri Windling: 1993 by Tor—0312852053 * Terri Windling: 1994 by Tor—0812516214 * John Jude Palencar: 2003 by Orb—0765306794 * Gary Lippincott ("The Newford Stories" Omnibus): 1999 by Science Fiction Book Club—0739402617 ~ Source: ISFdb: Dreams Underfoot Publications The collection was released three times: Originally with the Terri Windling cover in 1993 and it was reprinted in 1994. In 1999 an omnibus of the first three collections (Dreams Underfoot, The Ivory & The Horn and Moonlight & Vines. Then, in 2003 Orb Publishing re-released in Trade Paperback format with a new introduction and a lovely John Jude Palencar cover. It is also available in Russia and from Peanut Press R-book and in audiobook format. Publishing Information Publisher: Tor Books, Atheneum Books * Author Page: Charles de Lint | Authors | Macmillan * Book Page: Medicine Road #1 by Charles de Lint — Subterranean Press * Hardcover, First Ed., 414 pages, Pub: April 1st 1993—ISBN: 0312852053 * Paperback, 459 pages, Published July 1994 by Tor—ISBN: 0812516214 TOC: Table of Contents —Stories include (all Newford): Table of Content —list sans table * 13 • Introduction (Dreams Underfoot) • (1992) • essay by Terri Windling (4pgs) # 17 • "Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair" (1987) • novelette (26 pgs) (45pg chapbook) # 43 • "The Stone Drum" (1989) • novelette (26 pgs) # 69 • "Timeskip" (1989) • shortstory (15 pgs) # 84 • "Freewheeling" (1990) • shortstory (19 pgs) # 103 • "That Explains Poland" (1988) • shortstory (20 pgs) # 118 • "Romano Drom" (1989) • shortstory (17 pgs) # 135 • "The Sacred Fire" (1989) • shortstory (12 pgs) # 147 • "Winter Was Hard" (1991) • shortstory (17 pgs) # 164 • "Pity the Monsters" (1991) • shortstory (14 pgs) # 178 • "Ghosts of Wind and Shadow" (1990) • novelette (30 pgs) # 208 • "The Conjure Man" (1992) • shortstory (19 pgs) # 227 • "Small Deaths"(1993) • novelette (22 pgs) # 249 • "The Moon Is Drowning While I Sleep" (1993) • novelette (20 pgs) # 269 • "In the House of My Enemy" (1993) • novelette (25 pgs) # 294 • "But for the Grace Go I" (1991) • shortstory (16 pgs) # 310 • "Bridges" (1992) • novelette (16 pgs) # 326 • "Our Lady of the Harbour" (1991) • novella (40 pgs) # 366 • "Paperjack" (1991) • novelette (32 pgs) # 398 • "Tallulah "(1991) • novelette ( pgs) ~ More info, previous printings: Charles de Lint: Dreams Underfoot (1993) Description ~ TOC Source: IFSdb Publication Listing First Sentences She would see them in the twilight when the wind was right, roly-poly shapes propelled by ocean breezes, turning end-over-end along the beach or down the alley behind her house like errant beach balls granted a moment's freedom. ~ Dreams Underfoot: The Newford Collection ~ Shelfari Synopsis per Story p17 • "Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair" (1987) • novelette (26 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Ellen Brady, Reece (aka Peregrine Laurie), Jilly Coppercorn, Christy Riddell, Professor Bramley Dapple, Goon, Greg Longman (hippie), Long (gnome), Balloon Men, Booger, witches, crow, talking pig ✥ When she was younger, Ellen Brady had seen them all the time, bouncing in the wind like tumbleweeds. She called them the Balloon Men. Now she wonders if they really exist. Reece knows he can see things other people can't, and he's running from a nightmare. has much to say about the nature of Magic. (cover blurb) ✥ Ellen Brady and Peregrine Laurie see things that delight and disturb. ✥ There is magic in the flocks flying overhead, preparing for winter. ✥ p43 • "The Stone Drum" (1989) • novelette (26 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Jilly Coppercorn, Meran Kelledy, Professor Bramley Dapple, Goon, Old City, Skookins, Kathryn's Cafe, curse, ✥ Jilly Coppercorn found an artifact in Old City—a stone drum—which Professor Bramley Dapple explains is owned by Skookins—goblin-like folk rumored to be living in the ruins of Old City. Removing it caused Jilly to be cursed, and so she must return it. Meran Kelledy helps her return through the mazed of tunnels under the subway. But in the end, Jilly is "cursed" with knowledge: that such creatures exist and given the sight to see them. ~ The Cauldron ✥ One of Jilly's first experiences with magic. ✥ p69 • "Timeskip" (1989) • shortstory (15 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Samantha Rey, Geordie Riddell, Stanton Street Ghost, Jilly Coppercorn (supporting), Gypsy Records, Monkey Woman’s Nest (Mexican Restaurant), Your Second Home ✥ The fiddler Geordie Riddell, one of Jilly's best friends, finally gets lucky in love, only to have his girlfriend, Samantha Rey captured by the Stanton Street Ghost. The story is followed-up in "Paperjack" later in the book. ✥ p84 • "Freewheeling" (1990) • shortstory (19 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Jilly Coppercorn (supporting), Sue Ashworth, Zinc, Det Lou Fucceri, Yo Man (club), Psycho Puppies (band), ✥ About a young, possibly schizophrenic, possibly magic touched young man, Zinc, whose “freeing” of bicycles are interpreted by the law as stealing. ✥ Bicycles ride free, and Jilly Coppercorn takes Sue Ashworth with her to bail out Zinc. ✥ Oddly whimsical yet poignant tale about a boy, some bicycles, and the need to be free. p103 • "That Explains Poland" (1988) • short story (20 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: LaDonna DaCosta, Lori Snelling, Ruth, Bigfoot, Tombs, Upper Foxville, Monkey Woman’s Nest, Byron Murphy, Pipo DaCosta, The Zorb, Fat Man Blues Band (rock), Barry Jack (eyewitness in paper), The Daily Journal, ✥ An encounter with Bigfoot in the Tombs. ✥ Three young women—'LaDonna', Lori and Ruth—take the challenge offered by the newspaper headlines and go hunting for Bigfoot in Upper Foxville. ✥ A bigfoot hunt, where the monster they were looking for wasn't exactly as monstrous as they expected. p118 • "Romano Drom" (1989) • shortstory ("Gypsy Road") (17 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Lorio Munn, Elderee, Mahail’s hound (polrech), Dorn, Terry Dixon, No Nuns Here, Slimy Ted (club owner), Zoo, Heart’s shadow, :The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it. ✥ Lorio Munn discovers that there’s more than one way out of an alley. ✥ Lorio had no idea when she helped the wounded creature she found in the alley that it would lead her to a magical path set before her because of her Romany blood and the evil she must face so that the magic of the path would be protected. ~ (1) Alurel's Fireside Tales - Romano Drom ✥ Lorio meets Elderee, wounded in an alley. He looks like an orangutan. Elderee passes on the power to Walk the gypsy road—Heart’s shadow—claiming she can do it with her Romany gypsy blood. She fights off a potrech, Dorn and dreams with a tentacled monster. She grows in confidence and a sense of purpose. ~ "Romano Drom". p135 • "The Sacred Fire" (1989) • short story (12 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Luann Somerson, Nicky Straw, evil spirits (soul-sucking vampires) ✥ Luann Somerson spots Nicky Straw, her old classmate, in a gutter and doesn’t just walk by. ✥ Out-and-out horror story, with a fantasy-tinged premise. Nicky is on the street, given a helping hand by Luann. However, Nicky wasn't joking when he said that there were spirits out to get him. ✥ Luann Somerson helps Nicky Straw—she gives him a meal, clothes and a chance to cleanup. After dinner he tells her he hunts vampire-like soul eaters that he calls "Freaks"— all while he remembers the deaths of his daughter and wife in his memory. He's been hunting them since. Luann is scared by his story so Nicky leaves. One of the Freaks comes after Luann, Nicky returns in time to kill it. The cops come and put Kicky in jail where he is murdered by the Freaks leaving the cops baffled—and Luann a believer as well as their new target. p147 • "Winter Was Hard" (1991) • short story (17 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Jilly Coppercorn (main), Babe, Frank Hodgers, Johnny Defalco, Tombs, Gemmins, ✥ Jilly recalls her former acquaintence with Babe and the Gemmins, and Frank, too, as she trudges through a bitterly cold day to the Tombs where they used to live—driven by some compelling quest. (from the story) ✥ Jilly Coppercorn walks the Tombs on the eve of the Winter Solstice as a geas, “something you just have to do” ✥ p164 • "Pity the Monsters" (1991) • short story (14 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Harriet Pierson, Frenkenstien-like Monster, "Flora" (Anne Boddeker), Frank, Tombs, ✥ Harriet Pierson does and, then, does not, pity them. ✥ Riding her bike through a blizzard, Harriet Pierson has a near-collision with a seven-foot tall hideous looking monstoer-like man. While passed out from a hit on her head, Harriet is carried away and finds herself in the tombs with a crazy old lady and a monster who wants to mate with her. p178 • "Ghosts of Wind and Shadow" (1990) • novelette (30 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Lesli Batterberry, Meran Kelledy, Cerin Kelledy ✥ Lesli Batterberry has a flute lesson with Meran Kelledy that changes her life, but changes life of her mother, Anna, even more dramatically. ✥ Longer piece about a girl named Lesli Batterberry, Lesli's mother, and two people named Meran and Cerin who are not quite what they appear. Lesli runs away from home, which forces the mother to examine some things about her life which she did not want to think about. p208 • "The Conjure Man" (1992) • shortstory (19 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Wendy St. James, John Windle, Tree of Tales, Jilly Coppercorn (supporting), Ginger, ✥ Wendy St. James talks to the conjure man on an autumn day and shows Jilly Coppercorn what she saw with him. ✥ Wendy meets John Windle she sees bullies cause him to take a hard fall from his bike. He leads her to Butler University campus, shows her that a 400 year old oak tree haa been cut down by the head librarian for no good reason. She was the Tree of Tales. "She held all the stories the wind brought her...and with each tale she grew." Jilly advises Wendy on what she can do. ~ The Cauldron p227 • "Small Deaths"(1993) • novelette (22 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Zoe Brill, Gordon Wolfe, Hilary Carlisle, Rupert (dog), ✥ Zoe Brill meets Gordon Wolfe, complains to Hilary Carlisle about the creepy-ness of the whole scene, and wishes that her dog (Rupert) was more of a tough guy. ✥ About the light inside us and how the choices we make can lead to "small deaths." ✥ p249 • "The Moon Is Drowning While I Sleep" (1993) • novelette (20 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Moon Faerie, Sophie Etoile, Jilly Coppercorn (supporting), ✥ The Moon Faerie might actually be drowning while Sophie Etoile sleeps. ✥ Sophie Etoile, one of Jilly's good friends, has some frightening serial dreams. ✥ Helps Wendy St. James find an acorn from the Tree of Tales, telling her that only she can be the one to plant and nurture it, since both John and the tree itself chose her. ~ Cauldron p269 • "In the House of My Enemy" (1993) • novelette (25 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Jilly Coppercorn (main), Annie ✥ Jilly Coppercorn takes in Annie, 15-years-old and 8 months pregnant. ✥ A powerful look at Jilly's past and the reasons for her helpfulness toward a pregnant junkie. ✥ p294 • "But for the Grace Go I" (1991) • short story (16 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Maisie, Tommy, Angel ✥ Maisie picks up Tommy’s magazine subscriptions and gets more in her mailbox than was expected. ✥ Maisie is a former street kid who is getting her life back in order and is taking care of Tommy. We We also see Angel in action. ✥ p310 • "Bridges" (1992) • novelette (16 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Moira ✥ Moira is rather rudely dropped off but finds her way to a not-entirely-unhappy ending. ✥ p326 • "Our Lady of the Harbour" (1991) • novella (40 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Matt Casey, Katrina Ludvigsen (Mermaid), Amy Scallan (bandmate), Lucia Han, Marrowbones, Nicky Doyle, Johnny Ryan, Feeney’s Kitchen, The Harp, Kathryn’s Cafe, Owlnight, Fitzhenry Park, Hartnett’s Point, ✥ “The Little Mermaid” is retold, with Matt Casey (genius, musician, outsider) and Amy Scallan (who confides in her friend, Lucia Han) and Katrina Ludvigse. ✥ p366 • "Paperjack" (1991) • novelette (continued from "Timeskip") * Chars, Places, Supes: Jilly Coppercorn, Geordie Riddell, Paperjack ✥ Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell go looking for Paperjack. ✥ Geordie finds closure to the painful memory of having his girlfriend captured by a ghost. ✥ p398 • "Tallulah "(1991) • novelette (32 pgs) * Chars, Places, Supes: Christy Riddell ✥ This is a sad love story. ✥ We meet Christy Riddell, talk of his stories having dotted the collection, and hear the tale of Tallulah, whom he (kind of, but not really) wishes he’d never met. ✥ ~ Sources: *Taking a Tour of Newford « Buried In Print *Goodreads | Michael Havens (San Diego, CA)'s review of Dreams Underfoot *Charles de Lint, Dreams Underfoot ~ Greenman *Challenging Destiny Quotes Goodreads | Charles de Lint Quotes : "Dreams want to be real, they hang on and try to slip out into our waking world." — Sophie Etoile's dad ~ "The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep" : “Small deaths…They’re those pivotal moments in a person’s life that change it forever: a love affair gone wrong, not getting into the right post-graduate program, stealing a car on a dare and getting caught, that kind of thing. They’re the moments that some people brood on forever; right now they could have the most successful marriage or career, but they can’t stop thinking about the past, about what might have happened if things had gone differently.” ~ “''Small Deaths''" Awards * World Fantasy Award (Finalist, 1994: Collection) ~ Link Trivia Goodreads | Lists That Contain Dreams Underfoot (Newford, #1) by Charles de Lint Notes : This is not really a short story collection as much as a group of individual tales all set in Newford and involving many of the same characters (and often building on events that occurred in previous stories). ~ GR Reader : The collection’s title comes from, the genesis is offered in the epigraph from Yeats: “Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” ~ Taking a Tour of Newford « Buried In Print : Sophie Etoile has some serial dreams in "The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep,"—which also occur in: The Ivory and the Horn's "Mr Truepenny's Book Emporium and Gallery" and "Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night.". See Also * Next book in series: The Dreaming Place (1990) * John Jude Palencar * Newford Series * Category: Characters - Newford Wiki Other Newford Collections: * Moonlight and Vines * Tapping the Dream Tree * The Hour Before Dawn * Muse and Reverie External Links *Charles de Lint: Dreams Underfoot (1993) Description *Dreams Underfoot (Newford, #1) ~ Goodreads (scroll down for reader reviews) *Dreams Underfoot: The Newford Collection by Charles de Lint ~ Shelfari (Character lists, etc) *Bibliography: Dreams Underfoot ~ ISFdb *Newford series - Urban Fantasy Wiki Reviews: *Taking a Tour of Newford « Buried In Print *Review of Charles de Lint's Dreams Underfoot ~ Chellenging Destiny *Introverted Reader: Review: Dreams Underfoot *Dreams Underfoot Review (The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum) *Charles de Lint, Dreams Underfoot *Review: Dreams Underfoot, Charles de Lint « Medieval Bookworm *DREAMS UNDERFOOT by Charles de Lint | Kirkus *Goodreads | Michael Havens's review of Dreams Underfoot *Charles de Lint, Dreams Underfoot ~ Rambles *Review: Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint ~ Eryie *BIBLIOPUNKK » Review – Dreams Underfoot *Saving my Sanity ...: Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint *Series: Newford Series « ~ Books - Treasure or Trash Miac: *The Very Best of Charles de Lint: Part 5 | Stainless Steel Droppings Story Links: *Charles de Lint: Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair (1991) Description ~ Author *Uncle Dobbins Parrot Fair (Newford) ~ GR *Internet Book List :: Book Information: Uncle Dobbin’s Parrot Fair Category:Books Category:Browse Category:Collections